World No. 5 Elena Rybakina has hired Novak Djokovic‘s former coach Goran Ivanisevic for the 2025 season, she said Friday.
Djokovic ended a five-year partnership in March with Ivanisevic, who helped Djokovic claim nine of his 24 Grand Slam titles. Ivanisevic was the Wimbledon champion in 2001 when he became the first wild card to win a major tournament.
Rybakina, 25, will start working with Ivanisevic during the preseason. The 2022 Wimbledon champion split from her long-time coach Stefano Vukov just days before the US Open.
“I’m really looking forward to this partnership,” Rybakina told reporters ahead of the WTA Finals, which begin Saturday in Riyadh. “I think he’s a great champion and he has so much experience, and I’m looking forward to starting.
“For me, it was important to get better, and with the help of the agents, we connected and we just decided to start working. … Of course, it’s a big change, but I think it’s going to be a good change.”
Ivanisevic wrote on Instagram: “Excited about coming back on Tour. This time, it’s time for some WTA action. Happy to join your team Elena Rybakina.”
Rybakina enjoyed plenty of success in the first half of 2024, winning titles in Brisbane, Abu Dhabi and Stuttgart, but missed several tournaments due to illness and injury.
After reaching the Wimbledon semifinals, she withdrew from the Paris Olympics due to bronchitis and pulled out of the US Open in August due to a lower back injury after winning her opening match.
Rybakina begins her WTA Finals campaign against fourth-ranked Jasmine Paolini.